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Top Stocks · DATA CENTER REITSUpdated May 24, 2026

Data Center REITs Stocks to Own in 2026: 3 Names with Real Setup

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Last refreshed May 24, 20267 min read
Data Center REITs Stocks to Own in 2026: 3 Names with Real Setup

Data center REITs remain one of the clearest real-estate ways to invest behind AI, cloud migration, and enterprise digital infrastructure. Demand is being pushed by hyperscalers, AI model training, and latency-sensitive workloads that need dense power, cooling, and interconnection in major metro hubs. That backdrop matters because power-constrained supply and long development timelines can support pricing, occupancy, and returns for operators that already control strategic campuses.

Within the group, investors should separate pure-play colocation and interconnection REITs from diversified companies with only partial exposure. The key sub-segments are wholesale hyperscale capacity, retail colocation, and carrier-neutral interconnection campuses. Recent industry developments reinforce the theme, including continued acceleration in Equinix's bookings and recurring revenue, Digital Realty's ongoing global expansion, and Iron Mountain's effort to scale its Global Data Center Business. Land scarcity, grid access, and long lead times remain structural bottlenecks.

For this list, the goal is investment quality rather than pure momentum. That means balancing business relevance to the data center buildout with profitability, growth, valuation, earnings consistency, and analyst sentiment. The picks below are presented in countdown order, starting with rank No. 3 and ending with the top overall name at No. 1.

We screened for U.S.-listed stocks with market capitalizations above $500 million and then ranked the finalists on investment quality using primary-source financial data and composite metrics. The review emphasized business fit with the data center REIT theme, profitability, revenue and earnings growth, earnings execution, and analyst sentiment, while also considering valuation where relevant. This is a countdown, so the strongest overall pick appears last at No. 1 rather than first.

3. COR — Cencora Inc.

Market cap: $51.6B · Quality grade: B+ · Analyst consensus: Hold (avg target $357)

What they do. The company is a pharmaceutical distributor and healthcare services platform, not a data center REIT. Cencora sources and distributes pharmaceuticals, vaccines, blood products, home healthcare supplies, packaging solutions, data analytics, commercialization support, and specialty logistics across the U.S. and international markets, serving hospitals, pharmacies, clinics, and manufacturers.

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Why it fits. It largely does not fit the stated theme, which is why it ranks last on this list despite solid standalone business quality. The company does offer data analytics, supply management software, and logistics services, but those are healthcare infrastructure capabilities rather than exposure to colocation, interconnection, or hyperscale data center demand.

Numbers that matter. Cencora generated $328.68 billion in revenue and $5.30 billion in EBITDA, with trailing P/E of 20.3247 and forward P/E of 15.5039. Revenue grew 3.8% year over year, while earnings growth was 128.3% and next-year EPS is estimated at 19.7759 versus trailing EPS of 13.06. Profitability is thin in distribution terms, with a 3.8% gross margin, 1.72% operating margin, and 0.78% net margin, although return metrics are stronger, including 107.13% ROE and 3.49% ROA.

Recent momentum. The company has beaten earnings estimates in 6 of its last 7 reported quarters. Most recently, it posted EPS of 4.75 on May 6, 2026, versus a 4.73 estimate, a 0.4% beat, though the prior quarter missed by 15.3%. Analyst sentiment is cautious rather than bullish, with 1 buy, 5 holds, and 1 sell, which fits its lower ranking in a theme-focused list.

2. DLR — Digital Realty Trust Inc

Market cap: $69.5B · Quality grade: C+ · Analyst consensus: Buy (avg target $218.7241)

What they do. The company is a pure-play data center REIT that owns, acquires, develops, and operates data centers through its operating partnership. Digital Realty provides data center, colocation, and interconnection solutions to cloud, IT services, communications, social networking, financial services, manufacturing, energy, healthcare, and consumer customers across a global footprint.

Why it fits. This is direct exposure to the theme. As of March 31, 2026, Digital Realty had 309 data centers, including 89 held in unconsolidated entities, with approximately 3.0 gigawatts of IT capacity and about 6.3 gigawatts of buildable IT capacity under active development and held for future development. That scale matters in a market where power availability and development bottlenecks are increasingly central to competitive advantage.

Numbers that matter. Digital Realty produced $6.314 billion in revenue and $2.889 billion in EBITDA, with a strong 55.3% gross margin, 17.19% operating margin, and 21.82% net margin. Revenue grew 16.7% year over year and earnings grew 67.6%, which is a strong operating backdrop for a large REIT. The trade-off is valuation: trailing P/E is 51.5305 and forward P/E is 88.4956, while next-year EPS is estimated at 3.1112 versus trailing EPS of 3.77.

Recent momentum. Earnings execution has been uneven, with beats in 3 of the last 8 quarters. The most recent report on April 23, 2026 was encouraging, with EPS of 0.46 versus a 0.3667 estimate, a 25.4% beat, but that followed a 17.1% miss in February 2026 and a 51.6% miss in October 2025. Analysts still lean constructive overall, with 7 buys, 6 holds, and 2 sells.

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Methodology

This monthly screen focused on U.S.-listed companies with market capitalizations above $500 million and meaningful relevance to the data center REIT theme. We ranked candidates on investment quality using a mix of business-model fit, profitability, revenue and earnings growth, valuation context, earnings consistency, analyst sentiment, and our composite quality grade. Because the article is structured as a countdown, the strongest overall pick appears at No. 1 after the lower-ranked names. Metrics and rankings are refreshed regularly as new financial statements, earnings reports, and consensus estimates become available.

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